Abington man accused of stealing from two youth sports organizations he once worked for

NORRISTOWN – An Abington man is facing theft-related charges for allegedly stealing about $40,000 from two community youth sports organizations with which he was associated.

Michael H. Hrouda, 36, of the 200 block of Cricket Avenue, was arraigned Friday before District Court Judge Patricia Zaffarano on charges of theft by unlawful taking, forgery, receiving stolen property, access device fraud, identity theft, unlawful use of a computer, tampering with records and related charges in connection with alleged incidents that occurred between 2009 and 2012 while he was an officer for the Ardsley North Hills Athletic Association and the Abington Bulldogs Youth Wrestling Club.

“These are two youth sports organizations that are really run by donations, money that families put in for their kids who are participating in the youth sports programs and fundraisers that the children have to raise money for their programs. He had access to funds in both organizations…and unfortunately, both organizations separately found that cash withdrawals were made from their bank accounts in unauthorized ways,” alleged Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.

Advertisement

Ferman characterized the alleged thefts as a “horrendous breach of trust.”

“These are completely volunteer organizations, from the president to the treasurer to the coaches, participating in these organizations to help kids. So when you have somebody who’s in that volunteer position, in a position of trust, where he or she is entrusted with not just the finances of the organization but the faith of all of the people of that community, when we find out after the fact that that person’s been stealing it’s a horrendous breach of trust,” Ferman said.

Hrouda, according to arrest documents, was the president and treasurer of the Abington Bulldogs from 2008 until 2012. During that period, Hrouda allegedly withdrew cash, about $14,000, from the Bulldogs’ accounts for his own personal use and without permission.

Hrouda also was treasurer of the Ardsley North Hills Athletic Association between June 2010 and July 2012 and during that time he allegedly made numerous unauthorized cash withdrawals or wrote unauthorized checks from the organization’s accounts, to the tune of about $26,000, for his personal use, according to the criminal complaint.

“So we’re talking about thousands of dollars allegedly stolen from children in our community,” said Ferman, alleging the investigation determined Hrouda wrote unauthorized checks to purchase computer-related equipment from Best Buy.

“But most of the withdrawals were cash withdrawals so there’s really not a way to track exactly what the money was spent for. But the organizations know that the withdrawals were unauthorized and many of them were done at times when the organizations did not even have any activities so there was just a steady flow of money from the accounts to him with no explanation and no reason,” Ferman alleged.

Hrouda allegedly told one association official that “he was experiencing medical issues and other personal issues,” according to the criminal complaint filed by authorities from Upper Dublin and Abington.

The thefts came to light when the Ardsley association began the process of obtaining nonprofit status with the Internal Revenue Service and requested financial records from Hrouda, who claimed to have lost some of them, according to the arrest affidavit. A full audit of the organization’s records subsequently uncovered the alleged thefts, court documents indicate.

The alleged theft at the Abington Bulldogs organization came to light in November 2012 when new officers took over the club’s responsibilities from Hrouda and determined there was only $184 in a club bank account. Suspicious about the low balance of available cash, the new club officers investigated the club’s finances and discovered Hrouda’s alleged thefts, court documents alleged.

Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Abidiwan-Lupo has been assigned to prosecute the case.